At the urging of the two cats who brought the band to Roadrunner, Dave Bason and Mike Gitter, we present to you the demos that “sealed the deal for the band and label.” Just posted are the three demos that were the product of the band’s session with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette. One track in MP3 format (“Angelina”), and the other two coupled as a RealAudio stream (“Reach Out” and “Into A Silence”). The demos can be found in our MUSIC section. Miami’s Twice the Sun inks with Roadrunner. Having built a fervent Florida following, Twice The Sun is Roadrunner’s newest act. A former Pimp Rock Palace “band of the month”, Twice The Sun has distinguished themselves with a keyboard and guitar-driven sound that flirts between passionate and progressive with soaring, evocative vocals, jarring guitars and huge melodies. And heaviness aplenty. Twice The Sun came to Roadrunner as a joint signing between R2 Publishing head Dave Bason (aka, the man who brought the Strokes to RCA) and Roadrunner A&R guy Mike Gitter (Ill Nino, Killswitch Engage, Glassjaw). A demo session with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Incubus/STP) sealed the deal for the band and label. What does A&R Mike have to say about the deal? “I’m beyond excited about finally inking Twice The Sun. They’re the best new band I’ve seen in ages, straddling the line between the heavy, the passionate, the melodic and the progressive. Their songs pull you in toss shitloads of music at you and they probbaly have the best young singer I’ve EVER come across. The way it all happened was back in October, R2 publishing guy, Dave Bason got an MP3 from one of our scout/internet trolls. I happened to be going down to Florida the next day to see another band well, it just so happened that Twice The Sun was on the show. So, I was naturally pretty excited about seeing them. Well, I’m at the club in Fort Lauderdale and up scampers the band’s 19 year old guitarist Peter Santa Maria who just started rapping with me. We ended up talking about everything from music to comic books and instantly clicked. I asked him for a demo which he promptly gave me. I had to move my rental car so I popped the demo in and was pretty blown away. Well, so I got back to the show where the band was going on and I was pretty knocked out. First off, they have a very unique keyboard driven sound that was very much its own but definitely drew comparisons to Perfect Circle, Cave In, Staind and some heavier proggressive bits. Secondly, the singer, James Partridge, was a star (dressed as the devil at the time as it was a Halloween show) and really had the most deeply affecting voice I’ve heard in ages. And, quite honestly, from the John Bonham-like drummer, Tommy Garret to the bassist Tony Senita to Peter, the guitarist and Damien, the keyboardist, they were really fantastic musicians. Suffice to say, I was pretty blown away. Got back to New York and in one of our A&R meetings shortly thereafter Bason (who was also blown away) and I secured some demo money for the band. We hired a guy named Michael “Elvis” Baskette to do the demos. Elvis is a 26 year old GOD engineer, having already worked with the likes of Incubus and STP. A few weeks later, Elvis was in Miami working with the band. What he came back with sealed the deal for us. Just so fucking great. Twice The Sun really do live up to their name.” Says Baskette: “They’re an incredibly talented young band with an amazing singer that has the potential to write anything. They will explode!” Adds Twice The Sun keyboardist Damien Biltres: “We’re ecstatic to be with Roadrunner and can’t wait to get into the studio!” Tentative plans are for Twice the Sun to hit the studio with Baskette in early Autumn. For gigs and updates, check the band’s official site at www.twicethesun.com.